ASL Master Tutor Blog Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!This month is a special month for me as it is my best friend, Vestie Mae Jennings’ birthday on Feb 14th. It also evokes sad feelings as she prematurely departed at the young age of 24 years old. It was a true honor to meet a beautiful Deaf soul like her who changed my life around. I dedicate tutoring, mentoring and evaluating ASL to her - she made me realize of how Deaf people (and their hearing families/friends) worldwide need sign language in order to live a fulfilling life.

TEAMWORK - HERE IS A GREAT CHART OF BEHAVIORS THAT PULLS UP OR PUSH DOWN WORKERS -

Pulling Up Behavior Welcoming, open and authentic sharing of knowledge, information, and resources Open and authentic communication throughout the process. Co-creating and negotiating motivations and agendas. Sincerity & involvement in all opportunities. Accountability to the agenda. Direct, authentic, and transparent communication. Team accountability and discussion. Respecting relationships and boundaries established as a result. Inclusive behaviors Acceptance of a newer interpreter’s skill or knowledge deficits Embracing Supporting toward competence Validating experiences that got us both to this place

Pushing Down Behaviors Withholding access (assignment, or consumer-related info) Non-verbal & verbal behaviors (facial expressions, audible displays of displeasure, use of sarcasm and teasing, aggressive statements, etc.) Undermining & sabotaging activities that make oneself unavailable for team support or deliberately setting up negative situations Posturing (infighting, deliberate betrayal, rumors, bickering, and unhealthy approaches to conflict management, not speaking directly to a person but speaking about them.) Censuring (attributing the product of the teamed effort to the work of one person) Boundary violations (disclosing private or confidential information) Exclusive behaviors Intolerance for a newer interpreter’s skill or knowledge deficits Intimidation Blaming for incompetence Imposing one’s own experiences as the best or only route to competence ====================================== An ASL Interpreter friend forwarded me an interesting Black and White ASL article - fun historical facts of how black Deaf Americans actually preserved and carried sign language from the beginning because they were not influenced from the oral schools. I hope to travel someday and meet native ASL signers from their regions just for fun in studying the difference of old (true) signs and modern signs. http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/sign-language-that-african-americans-use-is-different-from-that-of-whites/2012/09/17/2e897628-bbe2-11e1-8867-ecf6cb7935ef_story.html~~~~~~~~~~$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lastly, here’s a possibly good financial tips for students going to college: Going to School? Take Advantage of these Education Tax Credits & Deductions in 2013 & 2014 [Read the rest of the story at 20somethingfinance.com]******************************************************************************